1 in 5 people will get cancer, and 92% of the world will be touched by the disease, WHO warns

About 92 percent of the world's population will experience cancer at some point in their lives — either through a personal diagnosis or by caring for a close family member with the disease.

According to the "Global Status Report on Cancer 2026," published Wednesday by WHO together with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), one in five people will be directly diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. In 2024 alone, about 20.6 million people worldwide received a cancer diagnosis.

The report found that more than 26,000 people die from cancer every day, with annual deaths approaching 10 million. Cancer is the world's second leading cause of death, behind cardiovascular disease.

WHO projected that, at the current pace, the number of new cancer cases will rise to about 35 million per year by 2050. IARC estimates that even accounting only for population growth and aging, global cancer incidence will increase 66.7 percent from 2024 levels by 2050. Low-income countries are projected to see a 133.3 percent rise, and lower-middle-income countries an 86.5 percent increase. By region, Africa faces the steepest surge at 125.2 percent, followed by the Eastern Mediterranean at 109.8 percent.

More than half of all new cases in 2024 were concentrated in Asia, which accounted for 50.7 percent of global incidence and 56.5 percent of deaths. Europe, home to just 9 percent of the world's population, bore 21 percent of new cases and 20 percent of deaths.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some health crises strike suddenly while others build slowly — but that does not make them any less devastating. "The data in this report make clear that cancer is a slow-moving global crisis," he said.

Ghebreyesus stressed that cancer is a deeply personal disease that touches nearly all of us, but added that whether someone survives should not depend on where they were born or how much they earn.

"The inequalities documented in this report are not inevitable — they are the result of choices, and they can be reversed through stronger, more united action," he said.